House of Representatives Committees

Chapter 4 Question Time

4.1The Agreement for a Better Parliament: Parliamentary Reform (the
Agreement) foreshadowed a range of procedural changes to the operation of
Question Time. This chapter examines the changes and the further modifications
to Question Time made in the two years since implementation of the Agreement.

Question Time

4.2Question Time is an important accountability mechanism providing a very
public forum for scrutiny of Executive Government. Originally intended to
provide an opportunity for Ministers to be questioned regarding their area of
responsibility, Question Time is often used for political ends by both the
Government and Opposition.[1] Consequently it has been
criticised for its adversarial nature and its usefulness has been questioned.

4.3The Agreement proposed a number of changes to Question Time, including:

imposition of time
limits on questions and answers;

the duration of
Question Time;

use of supplementary
questions; and

the content of
questions and answers.

Time limits and duration

4.4Amendments to standing orders introduced in September 2010 implemented the
following changes proposed in the Agreement:

duration of Question
Time (it would conclude no later than 3.30pm).[3]

4.5During the 43rd Parliament further refinements have been
made. The standing orders were amended in February 2012, reducing the time
limits to 30 seconds for questions and 3 minutes for answers and allowing
Question Time to conclude by 3.10pm.[4]

4.6Questions were averaging 23 seconds earlier in the 43rd
Parliament but after the amendments to the standing orders in February 2012
have been averaging 21 seconds. In the 42nd Parliament questions
averaged 25 seconds. Questions asked by Government Members continue to be
shorter than questions asked by non-Government Members.[5]

4.7Whereas the limits imposed on the length of questions have had little
apparent effect, the limits imposed on answers have had a measureable effect
between the 42nd Parliament and the 43rd Parliament to 30
June 2012. The average length of answers has been reduced from 3 minutes 37
seconds to 3 minutes 7 seconds.

4.8The reduction applies almost exclusively to answers to questions from
Government Members, going from an average length in the 42nd
Parliament of 4 minutes and 52 seconds to 3 minutes and 24 seconds in the 43rd
Parliament. In contrast, the average length of answers to questions from
non-Government Members remains relatively constant: 2 minutes 23 seconds in the
42nd Parliament and 2 minutes 24 seconds in the 43rd
Parliament.

4.9What does not appear to have changed is the traditional tendency for
Ministers to provide longer answers to Government questions than non-Government
questions.

4.10Table 4.1 provides a comparative summary of the key features of Question
Time from the 41st to the 43rd parliaments.

Table 4.1 Comparison of key features of Question Time

Questions without notice

41st Parliament

42nd Parliament

43rd Parliament
(calendar year 2011)

Average duration of Question Time*

1 hour 7 minutes

1 hour 32 minutes

1 hour 9 minutes

Average number of questions per Question Time

18.7

18.6

14.5**

Average length of question

Figure not recorded

25 seconds

23 seconds

Average length of response

2 minutes 24 seconds

3 minutes 37 seconds

3 minutes 7 seconds

% of questions asked by government

49.0

49.7

45.8

% of questions asked by opposition

48.5

48.3

47.7

% of questions asked by Independent/ non-aligned Members

2.4

2.0

6.5

Average points of order per Question Time

Figure not recorded

10.7

7.0

Source: Chamber Research Office statistics
as at 30 June 2012.

* rounded to nearest full minute.

**motions to suspend standing orders interrupted
Question Time on 24 occasions in 2011

Note: Figures
do not include data for supplementary questions.

4.11The changes to the duration of Question Time suggested in the Agreement
were intended to enable ‘20 questions each day in the normal course of events’[6],
a point acknowledged by the Leader of the House when moving the relevant
amendments to the standing orders.[7] When the time limits on
questions and answers were further reduced and the conclusion of Question Time moved
to 3.10pm, the Leader of the House reiterated the Government’s commitment:

I indicate that, whatever other differences I have with the
Manager of Opposition Business and others, we will continue to examine these
issues and see how they operate in practice. We would not want to see, for
example, fewer questions being asked in the parliament. That is certainly not
the government’s intention.[8]

4.12In the calendar year 2011, 882 questions were asked during Question
Time, averaging 14.46 questions per session.[9] Of those questions, 404
(45.8%) were asked by Government Members, 421 (47.7%) by Opposition Members and
57 (6.5%) by non-aligned Members.[10] During 2011, Question
Time concluded with an Opposition motion to suspend standing orders on 24
occasions.

4.13During a similar period in the 42nd Parliament, a total of
1187 questions were asked during Question Time, averaging 18.55 questions per
session.[11] Of those questions 589
(49.6%) were asked by Government Members, 569 (47.9%) by Opposition Members and
29 (2.4%) by non-aligned Members.[12]

4.14Table 4.2 provides a comparative summary of the source of the questions
asked during Question Time during similar periods in the 40th to the
43rd Parliaments.

Table 4.2 Comparison of source of questions asked during
Question Time

Questions without notice

40th Parliament

(calendar year 2003)

41st Parliament

(calendar year 2005)

42nd Parliament

(calendar year 2009)

43rd Parliament
(calendar year 2011)

Total number of questions during Question Time

1194

1274

1187

882

Average number of questions per Question Time

17.56

19.01

18.55

14.46

Number of questions asked by Government Members

576

(48.2%)

626

(49.1%)

589

(49.6%)

404

(45.8%)

Number of questions asked by Opposition Members

585

(49%)

619

(48.6%)

569

(47.9%)

421

(47.7%)

Number of questions asked by non-aligned Members

33

(2.8%)

29

(2.3%)

29

(2.4%)

57

(6.5%)

Source Chamber
Research Office statistics 2012

Supplementary questions

4.15The Agreement also proposed arrangements for supplementary questions. However,
such arrangements already existed under standing orders and are at the
discretion of the Speaker.[13] The purpose of
supplementary questions is to provide clarification of an answer already given
to a question asked during Question Time.[14] However, historically,
limits have been placed on supplementary questions to avoid the discussion
developing into a debate.[15] Standing order 101(b)
states that the Speaker may:

… allow supplementary questions to be asked to clarify an
answer to a question asked during Question Time.

4.16When the amendments to the standing orders were initially introduced in
the 43rd Parliament, the Manager of Opposition Business commented
that the existing provision would ‘simply require reinterpretation by the
Speaker’:

The agreement contains a proposal, which we have obviously
all agreed to, that the Leader of the Opposition or his delegate be able to ask
a supplementary question once during question time. There is already a
provision for supplementary questions in the standing orders and therefore I
note that that is part of the agreement …[16]

4.17The implementation of the standing order was questioned on 30 September
2010. The Leader of the House raised a point of order concerning a
supplementary question that the Speaker granted to the Leader of the Opposition
on a question originally asked by the Shadow Minister for Immigration and
Citizenship. The Leader of the House suggested that, while supplementary
questions had always been allowed under the standing orders, the supplementary
question should come from the person who asked the original question:

It is a follow-up question to the question they have asked
seeking additional information on the basis of the answer that has been given
by the minister.[17]

4.18In his reply, the then Speaker, Mr Jenkins, indicated that he had not
been involved in the negotiations for the Agreement and that there were some
difficulties in interpreting the intention of the clause on supplementary
questions. He did, however, draw attention to practices in other jurisdictions
where a person other than the person who has asked the question may ask a
supplementary question.[18]

4.19To clarify the situation, in October 2010 Speaker Jenkins told the House
he would apply the following criteria to supplementary questions:

… they need not be asked by the member who has asked the
original question and may be asked either by the Leader of the Opposition or a
member who appears to have been delegated by the Leader of the Opposition to
ask the question, … they should not contain any preamble; and they must arise
out of, and refer to, the answer that has been given to the original question.[19]

4.20On the first sitting day of 2012, the Speaker, the Hon Peter Slipper, outlined
his own position on supplementary questions, introducing a trial of the
following criteria:

1.each supplementary
question will be limited to 20 seconds notwithstanding the formal time limits;

2.an answer to a
supplementary question will be limited to 1½ minutes notwithstanding the formal
time limits;

3.one supplementary
question can be asked by the Leader of the Opposition or his or her delegate
specifically, and up to one additional supplementary question can be asked by
any opposition member, including the Leader of the Opposition, each day;

4.up to two
supplementary questions can be asked by government private members each day;

5.when a non-aligned
member asks a question, a supplementary question will be permitted;

6.a supplementary
question must not introduce new matter, should not contain any preamble and
must arise out of, and refer to, the answer that has been given to the original
question;

7.a supplementary
question can be asked in relation to any original question from the same
group—that is, opposition, government or non-aligned;

8.more than one
supplementary question can be asked to an original question; and

9.after any
supplementary questions have been asked the call will be given to the side—that
is, government or non-government—that did not ask the previous original
question.[20]

4.21The following day the Speaker clarified his position on supplementary
questions asked by non-aligned Members:

My intention is to maintain proportionality and, under
current arrangements, that would allow for one supplementary question each week
for non-aligned members. Should the number of questions asked by non-aligned
members change, I would seek to accommodate that change with regard to
supplementary questions.[21]

4.22From 7 February 2012 to 28 June 2012, Government Members asked 47
supplementary questions, all of which were allowed. Opposition Members asked 62
supplementary questions, of which 53 were allowed. Non-aligned Members asked 6
supplementary questions, all of which were allowed.[22]
If this trend continues it will indicate a substantial increase in
supplementary questions on previous sessions. For example, in the 43rd
Parliament during calendar year 2011, only 59 supplementary questions were
asked (all by Opposition Members) and 57 were allowed.

4.23Although standing orders have provided for supplementary questions to be
asked at the Speaker’s discretion, Speakers in preceding Parliaments have
rarely exercised that discretion. The most recent occurrence of the Speaker
allowing supplementary questions was in the 38th Parliament, in
which 136 supplementary questions were asked and 39 were allowed throughout the
whole of the Parliament.[23]

Content of questions and answers

4.24The Agreement urged the Speaker to apply the standing order requirements
regarding the content of questions.[24] On the second sitting
day of the 43rd Parliament, the then Speaker, Mr Jenkins, confirmed
that the standing orders would be enforced:

I indicate to the Leader of the House … my intention to
tighten the rulings on questions … I will take it that at this point in time we
acknowledge that there is to be less argument and that the points in the
standing order in relation to questions will be much more tightly adhered to
than in the past.[25]

4.25The Agreement also proposed that answers be ‘directly relevant’ to
questions and standing order 104(a) was amended to implement this reform.[26]
Similarly, Speaker Jenkins interpreted this reform to imply that ‘there be less
debate in answers’.[27]

4.26During his time as Speaker, Mr Jenkins experienced ongoing difficulties
applying the standing order on ‘direct relevance’ to answers. On a number of
occasions he remarked that the same rules should apply to both questions and
answers. For example after more than twelve months of the 43rd
Parliament, he stated:

Ad nauseam, I have suggested that the same standing order
should apply to answers as applies to the questions. It would have been a much
better solution than “directly relevant”. It would have meant that question
time is not about the debate …[28]

4.27Speaker Jenkins partly blamed the difficulty in applying the ‘direct
relevance’ rule to answers to the wording of questions, warning that if
questions contain argument they leave the potential for debate to ensue.[29]

4.28As well as proposing changes to the content of questions and answers,
the Agreement suggested that only one point of order on relevance be allowed
per question.[30] This was implemented
through standing order 104(b). Since this change, there has been a reduction in
the average number of points of order during Question Time from 10.7 in the 42nd
Parliament to 7.5 in the 43rd Parliament.[31]

Backbench question time

4.29The Committee received a suggestion that the creation of a dedicated
backbench question time would provide the opportunity for backbench Members to
ask questions concerning local electorate issues.[32]

4.30To enable Ministers to provide answers to specific questions, the
proposal suggested that backbencher Members could submit written questions
ahead of Question Time. A number of questions would be selected and put to the
relevant Minister. As questions would relate to a particular portfolio,
Ministers would be able to alternate attendance in the House.[33]

4.31The Committee has no particular view on the matter of a backbench
question time at this point.

Committee comment

4.32The Committee’s initial findings indicated that Question Time appeared
to be more efficient, with an increased average number of questions being asked
per Question Time and the number of points of order decreasing.[34]
However, now that the reforms have been embedded, indications of increased
efficiency are not so clear. The average length of Question Time has decreased
but the average number of questions has also decreased, from 18.6 in the 42nd
Parliament to 15.2 in the 43rd Parliament. On the other hand, points
of order have decreased from 10.7 per Question Time to 7.5, a significant
reduction.

4.33The Committee notes the increased participation of non-aligned Members
in Question Time and the support given to supplementary questions which suggests
that Question Time has become more interactive.

4.34However, frustrations about the combative nature of Question Time and
the content of questions and answers appear to continue. The Manager of
Opposition Business, while acknowledging overall improvement to the operation
of Parliament, observed that the argumentative nature of Question Time
continued.[35]

4.35Speaker Jenkins commented early in the Parliament that it would take
more than a change in standing orders to bring lasting change to Question Time:

… it will not only take a change of standing orders but a
change of culture in the whole House to bring about the type of question time
and proceedings in this place that many outside would like to see.[36]

4.36The fundamental question is one of the effectiveness of Question Time as
a primary measure of accountability. The Committee does not consider the
reforms have made a very significant improvement in this regard. Nor has
Question Time become a period that improves the regard in which the House and Members
are held by the Australian public.